Senate passes $1.65 trillion omnibus bill after deal on Title 42 votes

Senators passed bipartisan omnibus legislation in the 11th hour, after breaking an immigration policy impasse and racing through more than a dozen amendments.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said ‘this is one of the most significant appropriations packages we have done in a really long time.” Picture: AFP

Senators passed a $1.65 trillion spending bill just ahead of the Christmas holiday and a gathering winter storm, after breaking an impasse related to immigration policy and racing through more than a dozen amendments.

The bipartisan bill was approved in a 68-29 vote. The legislation will now go to the House, where it is expected to pass, before heading to President Biden’s desk.

The omnibus legislation includes $858 billion in military spending, $45 billion more than the White House had requested and up about 10% from $782 billion the prior year. It also includes $772.5 billion in nondefense discretionary spending, up almost 6% from $730 billion the prior year. The overall discretionary price tag works out to about $1.65 trillion, compared with $1.5 trillion the prior fiscal year.

The bill includes changes to the 1887 Electoral Count Act that would make it harder to block the certification of a presidential election, as well as revisions to the US retirement system. It also widens a ban on TikTok on government devices.

“This is one of the most significant appropriations packages we have done in a really long time,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).

BREAKING: This Senate passed the funding bill with an aggressive investment in American families, workers, and our national defense.

The range of people it helps is large and deep.

America will be healthier, more prosperous, and more secure.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 22, 2022

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) said the House would vote on the bill Friday. Lawmakers faced a weekend deadline to fund the government or trigger a partial shutdown, and they were also eager to wrap up the session to head home, as frigid winter weather descended on much of the country.

The spending package drew objections from some Republicans in the Senate and House who said it was bloated and full of unnecessary spending. Critics said that leadership should have released the bill sooner rather than forcing lawmakers to vote after just days to review it.

“It’s three times the size of the Bible,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) of the more than 4,000-page spending bill. “It’s Democrats’ spending.” House GOP leaders had also argued that Republicans should refuse to begin talks on the bill until the next Congress, when the GOP will control the House. But those calls were ignored by Senate negotiators in both parties, in part because they worried that a GOP-led House wouldn’t be able to pass spending bills next year.

I voted AGAINST the $1.7 TRILLION spending bill because I promised Florida families I'd fight every day to make Washington work for them.

This reckless inflation bomb is a disaster for our economy and a slap in the face to Floridians struggling to make ends meet. pic.twitter.com/Qnl0gJT2ke

— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) December 22, 2022

“Both sides recognised that the uncertainty of the new House of Representatives was such that if we didn’t do it now, then there might not be the ability to get it done for months and months and months,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D., R.I.). Fellow Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii said: “It’s an enormous achievement and a little bit unexpected.” Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee and a key negotiator, said of the bill: “We know it’s not perfect, but it’s got a lot of stuff in it, a lot of good stuff.” Ahead of the vote, senators applauded Mr. Shelby and his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, both of whom are retiring this year.

The bill, which would keep the government funded beyond Dec. 23, also carries $45 billion in aid for Ukraine and NATO allies, and would finance big increases in military and domestic spending, including military pay raises.

“While this is not the package Republicans would have written on our own, ” said Sen. Jim Inhofe (R., Okla.), the increase in military funding “gives our military the resources needed to take on China, Russia and other looming threats.” An initial procedural vote earlier this week showed the bill had enough support to clear the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, and lawmakers had been trying to reach an agreement on the terms for cutting off debate and proceeding to a final vote before government funding runs out this weekend.

The holdup, finally resolved Thursday morning, had centred on Republican efforts led by Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) to get an amendment vote on maintaining Title 42, the pandemic-era public-health measure allowing migrants to be expelled back to Mexico after crossing the US border illegally. The policy was set to end this week but has been kept in place temporarily by the Supreme Court.

In a compromise, Mr. Schumer brought up Mr. Lee’s bill and a rival one from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I., Ariz.) and Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.).

“It’s pathetic Congress once again stands here at the 11th hour,” said Ms. Sinema. “Stop using the border as a political tool...We must fund the government and we must solve the border crisis,” she said.

Despite the certain influx of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and fentanyl over our southern border, the White House is pushing this plan. Shame on this president.

— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) December 22, 2022

Ms. Sinema’s amendment only pulled in 10 yes votes, most of them from Democratic senators representing competitive states, including Arizona, West Virginia and Montana. Mr. Lee had called the Sinema amendment a sham meant to give cover to Democrats who wanted to look tough on the border. His own amendment also failed, with 47 in favour and 50 against.

The Sinema-Tester legislation resembled parts of an immigration compromise she has been working on with Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. It would extend Title 42 until a different plan to manage the border is in place, and it would add funding for processing centres, border barriers and detention space.

Offering both Title-42-related amendments allowed the opportunity for lawmakers in each party to vote for the legislation they preferred. Senate Democratic leadership had been concerned that without a second border option, some centrist Democrats would join with Republicans to pass Mr. Lee’s amendment. If it had passed, Democrats were worried that it would cause the overall omnibus bill to fail once it was sent to the House.

The Title 42 policy, first rolled out by the Trump administration as Covid-19 was starting to spread, is believed to have acted as a deterrent for some migrants seeking asylum because they could be turned back even if they asked for protection in the US.

Some border cities such as El Paso, Texas, have been seeing surges in migrants crossing from Mexico. Picture: AFP

Most border analysts expect lifting the policy will lead to at least a temporary rise in illegal border crossings. In anticipation of the policy’s expiration, which had been set for Wednesday, some border cities were seeing surges. In El Paso, Texas, migrants primarily from Nicaragua slept on the streets in near-freezing temperatures because bus or plane tickets to leave the city were booked up.

The Senate ticked through a list of other amendments Thursday. Lawmakers easily cleared some amendments including legislation that would apply workplace accommodations to employees who had limitations based on pregnancy or childbirth and another that expanded workplace accommodations for breastfeeding. Senators voted to amend the bill to allow Covid-19 funds for infrastructure projects and give Ukraine funds from previously forfeited property. Another amendment included $1 billion in funding for 9/11 survivor health benefits.

But lawmakers rejected other amendments, including one that would eliminate earmarks tagged for specific projects in members’ home states or districts.

Mr. Schumer regularly urged on his colleagues to vote quickly, aiming to limit each tally to under 10 minutes. “That was 8 1/2 minutes. Let’s keep it up. Stay in your seats,” he said after one vote.

--Natalie Andrews and Lindsay Wise contributed to this article. Write to Siobhan Hughes at [e-mail] and Eliza Collins at [e-mail]

Wall Street Journal